God's Promises
Relationships
RESTORING BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS
I urge you now to live the life to which God called you. Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love. You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
Love each other deeply, because love will cause many sins to be forgiven. Open your homes to each other, without complaining. Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God' various gifts of grace. (Peter 4:8-10)
Be sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to do what is good for each other and for all people. (Thessalonians 5:15)
Jesus described for his followers what he came to do. He came to build a relationship with people. He came to take away enmity, to take away the strife, to take away the isolation that existed between God and man. Once he bridged that, once he overcame that, he said, "I will call you friends".
In repairing a relationship, it's essential to realize that no friendship is perfect, no marriage is perfect, no person is perfect. With the resolve that you are going to make a relationship work, you can develop peace treaties of love and tolerance and harmony to transform a difficult situation into something beautiful.
٭ Father, mend us and make us better than we could be alone. Take that which is broken in our lives and make it stronger at the broken places. And use that new strength in your kingdom.
SOLVING RESENTMENT
So why do you judge your brothers or sisters in Christ? And why do you think you are better than they are? We will all stand before God to be judged. (Romans 14:10)
The Lord hates evil thoughts but is pleased with kind words. (Proverbs 15:26)
Whoever forgives someone's sin makes a friend, but gossiping about the sin breaks up friendships. (Proverbs 17:9)
All of you should be in agreement, understanding each other, loving each other as family, being kind and humble. Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing. (I Peter 3:8-9)
Resentment is the cocaine of the emotions. It causes our blood to pump and our energy level to rise. But, also like cocaine, it demands increasingly large and more frequent dosages.
There is a dangerous point at which anger ceases to be an emotion and becomes a driving force. A person bent on revenge moves unknowingly further and further away form being able to forgive, for to be without the anger is to be without a source of energy.
Hatred is the rabid dog that turns on its owner.
Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist.
Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter.
And mercy is the choice that can set them all free.
٭ Father, I know that resentment and bitterness don't belong in Christian hearts. Help me turn them over to you, Father. Remind me that your touch can turn brokenness into strength.
PRAYING FOR OTHERS
I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. This is true because if tow or three people come together in my name, I am there with them. (Matthew 18:19-20)
Confess you sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. (James 5:16)
Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are cruel to you. (Luke 6:27-28)
Brothers, and sisters, I beg you to help me in my work by praying to God for me. Do this because of our Lord Jesus and the love that the Holy Spirit gives us. (Romans 15:30)
Prayer is the recognition that if God had not engaged himself in our problems, we would still be lost in the blackness. It is by his mercy that we have been lifted up. Prayer is that whole process that reminds us of who God is and who we are.
I believe there's great power in prayer. I believe God heals the wounded, and that he can raise the dead. But I don't believe we tell God what to do and when to do it.
God knows that we, with our limited vision, don't even know that for which we should pray. When we entrust our requests to him, we trust him to honor our prayers with holy judgment.
٭Father, I am here on earth to be your child. I am here to show others that you came to be their friend. Help me to make an eternal difference in someone's life today.
CONFLICTS
If someone does wrong to you, do you pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. Do your best to live in peace with everyone. (Romans 12:17-18)
Those who work to bring peace are happy, because God will call them his children. (Matthew 5:9)
Agree with each other, and live in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. (II Corinthians 13:11)
Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heart deep in a person's life. Nurture it with a smile and prayer, and watch what happens.
An employee gets a compliment. A wife receives a bouquet of flowers.
Sowing seeds of peace is like sowing beans. You don't know why it works; you just know it does. Seeds are planted, and top soils of hurt are shoved away.
Jesus modeled this. We don't see him settling many disputes or negotiating conflicts. But we do see him cultivating inward harmony through acts of love.
He built bridges by healing hurts. He prevented conflict by touching the interior. He cultivated harmony by sowing seeds of peace in fertile hearts.
٭God of peace, teach me what it means to be a peacemaker. Help me cultivate peace between others and you - my neighborhood, office, schoolroom. Teach me the art of building bridges and not walls.
GODLY PARENT
Know and believe today that the Lord is God. He is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other god! Obey his laws and commands that I am giving you today so that things will go well for you and your children. Then you will live a long time in the land that the LORD your God is giving to you forever. (Deuteronomy 4:39-40)
Correct your children, and you will be proud; they will give you satisfaction. (Proverbs 29:17)
All your children will be taught by the LORD, and they will have much peace. (Isaiah 54:13)
Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
Never underestimate the ponderings of a Christian parent. Never underestimate the power that comes when a parent pleads with God on behalf of a child. Who knows how many prayers are being answered right now because of the faithful ponderings of a parent ten or twenty years ago? God listens to thoughtful parents.
Praying for our children is a noble task. If what we are doing, in this fast-paced society, is taking us away from prayer time for our children, we're doing too much. There is nothing more special, more precious than time that a parent spends struggling and pondering with God on behalf of a child.
٭Father, in the midst of hectic schedules, I come to you. What was supposed to give me more time seems only to give me more responsibility. What was supposed to free me up seems to imprison me. Give me the courage to do only what needs to be done in your eyes, through your power.
VALUING OTHERS
My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful self. Serve each other with love. The whole law is made complete in this one command: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." (Galatians 5:13-14)
Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
In the same way, younger people should be willing to be under older people. And all of you should be very humble with each other. "God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." (I Peter 5:5)
God sees us with the eyes of a Father. He sees our defects, errors, and blemishes. But he also sees our value.
What did Jesus know that enabled him to do what he did?
Here's part of the answer. He knew the value of people. He knew that each human being is a treasure. And because he did, people were not a source of stress but a source of joy.
٭Father, I pray that you will help me. May I glorify your name, may I be open-minded, may I be sincere, may I be willing to change and grow.